Howard Stern Suffers Heartbreaking Loss Of Friend & Stylist, Ralph Cirella

As the official “Howard Stern Show” site notes, Ralph Cirella didn’t start as Howard Stern’s stylist. In 1985, he and his mother called into Stern’s then-WNBC radio show, and Cirella later worked with Stern to create “a penis puppet” for a New Year’s Eve event. When Stern hosted “The Channel 9 Show,” Cirella tackled the special effects. The outspoken broadcaster frequently pointed out his talents, stating, “Ralph would make these elaborate prosthetics like in the movies or like on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and he’d do them for zero money.”

What led Cirella from puppetry and SFX to styling were his constructive opinions about how Stern looked. He recalled how some of their most enjoyable times together occurred as Cirella sifted through Stern’s clothes to find the right outfit for him to wear. Once found, Cirella would say, “Alright, take your pants off now,” the memory of which still makes Stern chuckle. “It’s just so stupid and it’s killing me I’ll never hear that again,” he lamented.

John Stamos, the “Full House” alum and a close friend of both Stern and Cirella, took to Instagram on December 6 to also share his heartfelt remembrances of the stylist and makeup artist. Along with several pictures of Cirella and Stamos over the years, the caption read, “At the painfully young age of 58, my dear friend, Ralph Cirella, was suddenly taken from us, leaving us all in a state of profound shock. He was, without a doubt, a one-of-a-kind soul.”